Unexptected Journey
by BlackLightning6911
Summary: A take on how Bleach would have been should Tatsuki gain powers. It focuses mainly on Tatsuki, her friendship with Orihime and how far she is willing to go to keep her promise.
1. Chapter 1

**PROLOGUE**

It was a nice day. The sun was shining brightly. A nice cool breeze was blowing breaking its heat. People were outside everywhere enjoying the nice weather and just having fun with their friends or family. Of course all that was about to change...

A loud roar was heard and the sky was cut open as if from a giant sword. From the blackness of the crack a beam of light came through and crashed down with a tremendous explosion in a green field. Smoke rose from the impact but quickly cleared away. The crack in the sky closed slowly without anyone even noticing it.

As the smoke left, two figures stood among the giant crater that was created. They were two men. One of them was huge like a giant with a big hole on his stomach and what looked like a part of a bone mask with teeth covering his lower jaw. He was bald and had dark skin.

The other one was a bit smaller than an ordinary man. His hair was black and half a helmet covered the left side of this head. His skin was pale almost white and two dark green lines run down his cheeks. It was as if his also green eyes were crying. He also had a hole but his was a lot smaller and it located on his throat.

Both of them wore white clothes and had sword strapped on their waists.

"I came here a few times with a mask on, but the human world is more boring than I remember! The spiritual energy here is so thin I think I'm going to suffocate!" exclaimed the giant with his loud booming voice.

"Stop whining..." the other one replied with his calm voice. "I said I'd be fine solo but you insisted on coming along Yammy."

"Yes...yes...sorry..." said Yammy as he climbed up the side of the crater. As he reached up he came face to face with a bunch of people. They were all staring at him. Actually not him. They couldn't see him. All they could see was the crater behind him. They were all looking surprised and scared as they talked to each other.

"Was it a meteor...?"

"I don't see anything in there..."

"Then what the heck fell down...?"

"Is it safe to go closer...?"

"What's with these guys?" Yammy turned his head to the side as he looked at them bored. "Why are they staring at me? Hey I'm going to eat now..." he announced and took in a huge breath of air from his mouth.

At the same time the people in front of him started screaming in shock and then in agony. Without them knowing it their spirits were ripped from their bodies as Yammy sucked them in. Soon they all fell to the ground dead.

"Wow this sucked..." complained Yammy as he scratched his stomach.

"Of course. How can weak spirits taste good?" replied the other man as he stood behind him.

"Well they kept staring at me like I'm a freak!"

"The humans can't see us. So they couldn't have been staring at you."

"I know, I know. But I still don't like it! So what now? How many are we going to kill?"

"Just one. You can leave the others alone."

"We have to find a single bug in this whole nest of them?!" Yammy grinned.

"I heard that presently in the human world, there are at most three with noticeable strength. The rest are utter trash. It shouldn't be difficult to spot him..." the smaller man looked to the side were movement caught his attention. "What a surprise! We have a survivor." He was geniually surprised although his face and voice didn't show it. It was extremely rare almost impossible that a mere human could survive an Arrancar's Gonzui.

And yet there among the dead bodies of her friends, a girl was trying to get up on her feet. She wore a karate gi and had short black hair. She struggled to get to her knees as she looked around her.

"Wh...what happened here...?!" Tatsuki muttered as she stared at the fallen bodies of her friends. "Is... everyone...dead?" she could barely speak. Her mouth was dry and her whole body ached. She felt like an incredible force was pushing towards the ground. Like a huge hand was crashing her into its fist. "What..are...they...?" she glared at the two men standing near her.

The giant walked in front of her and suddenly she couldn't look away. The invisible force on her intensified. It pushed her down with more vigor. As if it was demanding from her to bow down in front of its tremendous power.

_What's...happening...?_

"You got hit by my Gonzui and yet your spirit didn't fly away!" said Yammy with a huge grin on his face.

_I can't look away...?_

"So even though you hid instead of making an entrance, I can still tell that you're a strong spirit! I'm right ain't I?"

_I'm going...to faint..._

"Ulquiorra!" roared Yammy as he looked over his shoulder at the other man "is she it?"

"Look carefully fool." Ulquiorra gazed at Tatsuki bored. "her spirit is on the verge of collapsing just from being close to you. She's trash."

_Trash...?_

Tatsuki felt anger flare up inside of her. She wasn't trash. She could take him on anytime. She would show him. If only she could stand up.

"Tsk..." Yammy looked at her disgusted. "So it's just a coincidence that you survived the Gonzui? How boring...well...goodbye then..." He drew his leg back and tried to kick Tatsuki.

_Shit! Move damn it!_

Tatsuki tried desperately to move out of the way. To force her body to react somehow. But she was frozen in place she couldn't move. She couldn't even look away. All she could do was watch as Yammy's giant foot came at her.

Just as she was about to get hit two blurred figures stepped in front of her. She recognized them. One of them was Chad. His left hand had changed and now was black with a purple stripe on the middle. He used it to block Yammy's foot. The other one was Orihime. She stood in front of Tatsuki her arms wide open. Her red hair flowing behind her.

"Huh...? Who the hell are you?" asked Yammy annoyed for the interruption.

"Inoue do as planned, take Arisawa and run..." said Chad without taking his eyes off of the Arrancar.

"Okay be careful Sado-kun!" replied Orihime as she put Tatsuki's arm over her shoulders and started to take her away from the two dangerous men.

"Ulquiorra! Is he it?" yelled Yammy once again. Ulquiorra put his hands on his pockets.

"Yammy...if you had invested some time to train your observational and reasoning skills it would be obvious to you that he is trash too."

"Okay then!" Yammy drew back his leg so fast that Chad lost his balance for a second. The Arrancar with a swift move grabbed his arm and crushed it with his fist. Blood splattered all around as the blood vessels and bones were destroyed.

"Sado-kun!" Orihime sceamed terrified. She wasn't too far away so she saw what happened to Chad. She put Tatsuki down who was aware of what was happening but still couldn't move. She run to Chad to heal him not paying attention to the other two men.

"Ulquiorra? Is this girl trash too?" Yammy asked once again.

Ulquiorra looked at Orihime who was crying above Chad as she saw the state he was in. He closed his eyes.

"Yeah. She's trash."

Yammy laughed loudly as he raised his fist and punched at Orihime.

"Santen Kesshun..." whispered the girl without looking up. A bright yellow shield made of light appeared in front of Orihime. Yammy's fist connected with the shield and a loud noise was heard as it cracked under his power. The giant surprised took a step back. The shield shattered to pieces as Orihime stood up and glared at him.

"What's the deal with this one?" Yammy wondered.

"Souten kinshun." Said Orihime and Chad's arm was covered by a light. In there it started to heal.

The giant noticed it. "What? She can heal?"

Ulquiorra saw it as well but it didn't seem to interest him at all. "What a strange human..." in truth it interested him very much. He hadn't seen anything like this before.

Orihime extended her arms in front of her. Her mind was set. There was only one thing she could do now. She had to hold them off until Ichigo arrived. She had to protect Tatsuki and Chad no matter what.

"Tsubaki!" she yelled determined to stop the two men "Koten Zanshun I reject!"

A powerful beam shot out of her hands with amazing speed as it headed towards Yammy.

He unfazed brought his hand up and stopped it without breaking a sweat.

"What is this?" he grinned.

"What...how...?" muttered Orihime not believing what she saw.

"What should I do Ulquiorra? This one knows some strange tricks. Should I tear off her limbs and bring the rest back to Aizen-san?"

"No..." Ulquiorra lost his interest the moment Orihime's attack failed. "That's not necessary." Slowly he walked forward. He took his hands out of his pockets. As he walked to Yammy he reached out and unsheathed the giant's sword in a swift move.

"Hey what are you doing!?" yelled Yammy "That's mine!"

Ulquiorra ignored him. He approached Orihime who fell to her knees terrified.

A few feet away Tatsuki saw everything. And as Ulquiorra approached Orihime she knew what was going to happen. She had to do something.

He was going to kill her...

_Move..._

He would kill Orihime...

_Move..._

She can't let that happen...

_Move!_

She will not let that happen.

_MOVE DAMN IT!_

Suddenly she found that she could control her body again. Without thinking she got to her feet and rushed forward. She run as fast as she could praying to make it in time. And she did.

As the sword came down she managed to get between Orihime and Ulquiorra her back turned to the later. The sword cut painfully through her back from her left shoulder down to her lower right back. She staggered forward as she coughed out blood. Her vision blurred and black crept up the edges. Her strength left her and she fell forward.

"Tatsuki! NO!" screamed Orihime as Tatsuki fell limp into her arms. She caught her and laid her to the ground. She held her head in her arms as Tatsuki's eyes fogged over and closed.

"No, no, no! Stay with me Tatsuki!" that was the last thing Tatsuki heard before darkness consumed her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**CHAPTER ONE**

_Black. A flash of red. Pain. A voice._

"_Tatsuki?"_

"_Huh?"_

"_What are you doing?"_

_Silence._

"_What are you doing Tatsuki?"_

"_I'm not doing anything..."_

"_Exactly. What is it that you want to do, Tatsuki?"_

"_I... I don't know..."_

"_I think you do..."_

_A bright light._

_Tatsuki opened her eyes. She was lying down on the grass. Above her was the clear blue sky. She didn't get up. It felt nice just lying there. It was peaceful. Somewhere nearby she could hear the sound of running water. It helped her clear her mind. She closed her eyes and let her body relax under the hot sun._

_Tatsuki stayed like that for a while but then she heard voices. A group of guys were heading her way. They were laughing and talking about something. They were so loud that it actually hurt her ears. Tatsuki got up halfway and leaned on her elbows she was next to the river where she and Orihime used to go every year and chase red dragonflies. There next to the river Tatsuki saw her. _

"_Orihime?" she whispered unsure. It was Orihime but she was younger, she was a kid. Tatsuki got up and walked to her._

"_Orihime?" she called again, louder this time. The other girl didn't turn around. She was staring at the flowing water lost in her thoughts. Tatsuki looked behind her. One of the guys stopped and pointed at Orihime saying something to his friends. Tatsuki didn't hear what but judging from the way they started walking towards them and their smug smiles, they weren't up to any good. She narrowed her eyes at them and quickly over to Orihime._

"_Hey, we need to go. Now!" she didn't move._

"_Orihime!" Tatsuki reached out a hand to grab her shoulder. But her hand didn't connect. It went through Orihime. Tatsuki was frozen. And then she realized. They couldn't hear her, see her, or touch her. Was she a ghost? Had she died? What was all this?_

_Orihime's head jerked up as she became aware of the guys coming her way. She got up hastily and started taking steps back, her eyes never leaving the group of boys._

"_Hey little girl! Are you lost?" a blonde one asked._

"_Maybe we could help you out!" said another one with long black hair caught back in a ponytail._

"_N-no it's okay...I'm fine..." Orihime was obviously scared. Tatsuki could see the fear in her eyes but couldn't do anything about it. The boys had reached Orihime now and she was trapped._

"_Then you must be lonely..." smirked the blonde who must be their leader. Orihime shook her head no but they ignored her. He grabbed her hand and drew her closer to his body. Tatsuki clenched her fists getting angrier by the second._

"_Don't worry. We will take care of you..."_

"_Hey! Let her go!" someone yelled from behind them. All of them turned around. Tatsuki was shocked once again._

_A young version of her stood a few feet away glaring at the guy that held Orihime. Suddenly everything became clear to her. Her right hand reached out and grabbed her left forearm. Her fingertips grazed a jagged scar that was there._

"_Or what are you gonna do?" the leader teased young-Tatsuki._

"_How about I kick your sorry ass?" she replied._

"_Hey, don't be jealous now. There is room for you too." Said the black haired guy as he walked to her. Tatsuki smirked as she knew what her younger self was about to do._

_Sure enough young-Tatsuki punched the guy so hard that it broke his nose. He fell back screaming as blood came out his nose._

"_I think I'll pass..." she growled as she strode up to the others._

"_Get her!" ordered the leader._

_The other two attacked her. The first tried to hit her face but she ducked and punched his solar plexus. He fell to his knees gasping for air._

_The other one was quicker and managed to punch her ear. She lost her balance and stumbled to the right. He grabbed her shoulders and kneed her stomach. She doubled over leaving her back unprotected .He took advantage of that and brought his elbow down on her head. She fell forward but used her momentum to roll back up on her feet._

_She spanned around and delivered a roundhouse kick to his head. He fell down grunting. The first guy had recovered by now and attacked her. She avoided him easily, seeing that he lacked technique. She kicked his solar plexus again and punched him so hard that a tooth came loose. He crushed to the ground painfully. He wouldn't be bothering her again._

"_What the hell are you doing?! Get that bitch!" screamed their leader._

_Young-Tatsuki turned to look at him. He was holding Orihime by the arm not letting her go. The redhead looked at her and her eyes widened._

"_Tatsuki behind you!"_

_She quickly turned around and ducked in time to avoid a hit from the guy with the broken nose. She elbowed his guts and as he bended over in pain, she brought up her knee to his face. He spit out blood and fell down unconscious. The remaining member of the gang seeing this decided it was better for him to run away._

"_Hey where are you going?! Come back here!" his leader screamed at him but he was long gone._

_Young-Tatsuki turned at him."I'm going to say it one last time. Let. Her. Go."_

"_I guess I'll just have to take care of you myself!" he pushed Orihime away so hard that she fell to the river. Orihime screamed as she was swept away by the strong current.,_

"_No!" young-Tatsuki rushed to follow in after her but the guy got in her way. He punched her in the face hard and she fell back. Blood came down her nose but it wasn't broken._

_Blinded by rage she quickly got up and attacked him. She didn't notice the pocket knife he was holding. He sidestepped her and at the same time slashed at her. The knife cut open a small wound on her right cheek. Young-Tatsuki surprised by the cold of the metal against her skin let her guard down. That was all he needed to make his move._

_She saw the blade shine and out of reflex she brought up her left forearm to defend herself. The blade cut a jagged path from the knuckle of her pinkie all the way to her elbow. Pain erupted in her arm as the knife tore through skin and muscle only to stop once it reached the bone. She fell down clutching her wound as blood came out staining everything crimson._

_Young-Tatsuki growled and gritted her teeth. She would not let him see how much she was hurting. He kicked her and as she rolled on the ground she caught sight of Orihime fighting to get to the shore as the current took her further away. She knew what she had to do._

_Her leg shot out and tripped the guy, who all this time was screaming insults at her. Once he was down she got up and jumped to the water to go after Orihime._

_Tatsuki didn't have to see the rest. She closed her eyes. That day she managed to reach Orihime and drag her to the shore. There she collapsed exhausted from the blood loss and swimming. Orihime took her to the Kurosaki Clinic were Ichigo's dad patched her up._

_That was the day she made her promise to Orihime._

_She opened her eyes but couldn't see anything._

"_Do you know now?" the voice asked her again._

"_Yes."_

"_What is it?"_

"_I want to protect my friends. I want to protect Orihime"_

"_Don't you ever forget that..."_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX**

The first thing she knew when she woke up was the pain. Her whole back felt like it was on fire and everything felt sore. Even her mind felt sore. Slowly she tried to move. Her muscles screamed in protest as the fire in her back intensified. Ignoring the pain, she leaned back on her elbows and looked around.

She was inside a small dark room. A few sun rays sneaked past the closed blinds of the only window opposite from her bed. The only furniture was the bed she was lying in and a chair next to it. Sitting on the chair was a black cat with yellow eyes that were watching her every every move.

Tatsuki felt uncomfortable under the cat's intense gaze. She proceeded to get off the bed, but the cat swiftly jumped to her chest pushing her back.

"Lay down." It said in a deep male voice. Tatsuki's eyes widened when she realized that the cat just talked to her.

"W-w-what? Y-you can t-talk?"

"Yes I can. But apparently you can't, seeing how you stutter so miserably." The cat snapped at her.

"How...?"

"Yeah I'm a talking cat. Big deal! Now lay down and stay there or else you'll be in more pain than you already are!" it threatened. The cat. Threatened her. She must have hit her head pretty bad. Without another word the cat turned and left through the open door.

Tatsuki just stared after her. She was too stunned to do anything. What had just happened? A few seconds later a man came in. he was blonde and wore a green hat that cast shadows over his eyes.

"Hello! It's nice to see you're finally awake!" He said cheerfully as he sat to the chair. He held a glass filled with water that he gave to her. Tatsuki just stared at him.

"The cat was talking..." she said slowly testing him.

"Yes it did!" he smiled "Drink this it will make you feel better"

Tatsuki took the glass and drunk. Almost immediately the fire in her back subsided and the tension left her muscles. "Where am I?"

"Oh my! Where are my manners? My name is Urahara Kisuke and you are at my shop" he explained with a goofy smile.

"Okay...what happened?"

Suddenly he turned serious and he lost all of his happy-go-lucky attitude. Tatsuki sat up on the bed feeling nervous as he stood and closed the door.

"What do you remember?" he asked with his back still turned at her. She frowned in concentration as she tried to organize her memories. She was out running with the rest of the karate team. It was part of their daily routine. Then there was a big explosion...

"Two men...I remember two men falling from the sky..." he turned to her. His eyes were cold and as she stared at him more details came to her tired mind. "They killed my friends and then tried to kill me...and then Orihime and Chad came..." Panic and fear gripped her heart as she remembered what happened next.

"Are they okay?" she jumped to her feet. "Did something happen to them"

"What else do you remember?" Urahara ignored her question.

"Answer me!" she demanded. She needed to know if Orihime was safe. Nothing else mattered. Urahara stared at her, analyzing her. Tatsuki wavered under his intense gaze but held her ground.

"They're alive, but they were badly hurt."

She had failed. If Orihime was hurt that meant Tatsuki didn't keep her promise.

"I have to go..." she muttered "I need to see her." she moved to leave but Urahara blocked her way.

"Let me through" he growled at him.

"You will see her but first we need to talk"

"Not now!" she pushed him aside and left the room. She turned right and started marching down the corridor.

"Do you want to help your friend Miss Arisawa? Do you want to protect her?"

"It's none of your business!" she yelled as she opened a random door and found her self inside a shop. She quickly walked up to the exit.

"You can't protect her like that." Tatsuki froze. Her hand gripped the doorknob firmly. With one more step she would be outside. She needed to get to Orihime but something inside her held her back.

"You know something weird is going on. You know it involves your friends. But you don't know what that is, do you?"

She looked at Urahara. "What are you talking about?"

"There is a war coming up."

The seriousness of his words made her mouth go dry. His cold eyes weren't lying. Her heart started beating faster. She could hear it pounding against her ears.

"Your friends will play a big role in it. Especially Kurosaki. But he is not strong enough. He needs help."

"What...are you saying?"

Orihime, Ichigo and probably Chad were marching into a war but they weren't nearly strong enough to stay alive? Was that it? And what did she have to do with all of this? Her friends obviously did not trust her enough to tell her anything, so why was Urahara-a total stranger-talking to her about it? She knew this war had something to do with all those supernatural things her friends were involved with but she couldn't do anything about it. Right?

"You have the potential of becoming more powerful than most of us..." Urahara walked towards her and took his hat off so Tatsuki could see his eyes. "I have an offer for you. I will give you the power to protect your friends..."

"But...?"

"But you will have to give up your life and join our side..."


End file.
